The UK is no longer majority Christian

[Altfish]

This make sense since Christians create the most desirable places to live. You don't see people flocking to get into Atheist countries like China or the old Soviet Union. It is usually the other way around, until there goes the neighborhood.

When were you last in atheist Scandinavia?

China is an oppressive state and not a nice country
The Russian Orthodox Church supports Putin

 

[Secret Chief]

When were you last in atheist Scandinavia?

China is an oppressive state and not a nice country
The Russian Orthodox Church supports Putin

New Zealand is only 37% Christian. So it's practically a communist state, no wonder no-one wants to move there.

 

[Estro Felino]

Turned into flats, offices, land cleared for development. In my area the local CofE church that I used to attend has gone and is now houses. The main RC church has gone to be replaced by flats.
Buildings can be repurposed

BTW the UK will never be 100& atheistic (Is that a word?)

Wait, wait......I am not understanding something.
So what will Saint Paul's Cathedral become? Or Westminster Abbey?

 

[Altfish]

Wait, wait......I am not understanding something.
So what will Saint Paul's Cathedral become? Or Westminster Abbey?

They'd make good museums or libraries, places of learning.
They're mainly used as tourist attractions these days

 

[Estro Felino]

BTW the UK will never be 100& atheistic (Is that a word?)

Definition of atheistic | Dictionary.com I guess

 

[Estro Felino]

They'd make good museums or libraries, places of learning.
They're mainly used as tourist attractions these days

...or turned into mosques, seeing the drift.

 

[Vee]

England and Wales now minority Christian countries, census reveals | Census | The Guardian

"The census revealed a 5.5 million drop in the number of Christians..."

Is the UK a better place to live now that there are less Christians?

 

[RestlessSoul]

Is the UK a better place to live now that there are less Christians?

An excellent question, to which there is no ready answer. I'd say it's a much harsher place now, than it was 50 years ago when I was a boy. Communities seemed stronger then, and people looked out for each other in ways that seem rarer today. That's anecdotal evidence, of course. Certainly in the last 40 years or so, the gulf between rich and poor has got wider, the social safety net has been eroded, homelessness and extreme poverty is far more visible. Whether this has anything at all to do with the erosion of Christian or other religious values is impossible to say with any certainty.

 

[Estro Felino]

An excellent question, to which there is no ready answer. I'd say it's a much harsher place now, than it was 50 years ago when I was a boy. Communities seemed stronger then, and people looked out for each other in ways that seem rarer today. That's anecdotal evidence, of course. Certainly in the last 40 years or so, the gulf between rich and poor has got wider, the social safety net has been eroded, homelessness and extreme poverty is far more visible. Whether this has anything at all to do with the erosion of Christian or other religious values is impossible to say with any certainty.

That's an excellent observation. I was reading the article of the OP, and yes, I guess the point of the journalist is to highlight that Britain would be far better with less and less Christians.
As if non-Christians were discriminated against in UK..or as if Christians were to blame for certain negative aspects of our times.

 

[Secret Chief]

An excellent question, to which there is no ready answer. I'd say it's a much harsher place now, than it was 50 years ago when I was a boy. Communities seemed stronger then, and people looked out for each other in ways that seem rarer today. That's anecdotal evidence, of course. Certainly in the last 40 years or so, the gulf between rich and poor has got wider, the social safety net has been eroded, homelessness and extreme poverty is far more visible. Whether this has anything at all to do with the erosion of Christian or other religious values is impossible to say with any certainty.

Well it's not a Christian organisation that sets tax rates is it (iro rich and poor widening). Though I'm sure many of the people who are involved in determining tax rates describe themselves as Christians.

 

[Altfish]

Is the UK a better place to live now that there are less Christians?

I don't think there is a correlation between the number of Christians and a country's wellbeing.
The UK has becoe a worse place to line (IMHO) since about 2012 (London Olympics) but it is not related to religions or lack of.

 

[Altfish]

...or turned into mosques, seeing the drift.

Muslims increased by app 1.2m, so yes, more mosques needed.
BUT non-believers increased by app 8.1m - therefore more museums, galleries, etc needed

 

[Sand Dancer]

This make sense since Christians create the most desirable places to live. You don't see people flocking to get into Atheist countries like China or the old Soviet Union. It is usually the other way around, until there goes the neighborhood.

Depends on the country. The Vatican City is the only Christian country. I wouldn't want to live there. Developed nations are desirable, but not due to religion. The religious right in the US have made it very undesirable. They want theocracy.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Well it's not a Christian organisation that sets tax rates is it (iro rich and poor widening). Though I'm sure many of the people who are involved in determining tax rates describe themselves as Christians.

Social trends have complex roots. But I'd suggest that one of the most powerful engines of social progress in the UK over the last century and a half was the Trade Union movement. As the Trade Unions have declined in power and influence since the Miner's strike in the early 1980s, that engine has gone into reverse, and in work poverty, once a thing of the past, is now a commonplace.

The Trade Union movement had strong roots in various churches (and synagogues, in London and Manchester). Those banners you see carried at TU rallies are based on the ones displayed in non-conformist Anglican, Methodist and Baptist churches in parts of England and Wales. And one of the most outspoken supporters of the London dockers during their historic 1889 strike was Cardinal - and Archbishop of Westminster - John Henry Newman. So there is a case to be made for Christian values having played a part in creating a more equitable society, and for growing inequality becoming the more recent trend as Christian values have been on the retreat. That's without considering the role of bodies like the Salvation Army and Quaker Social Action, in addressing inequality in Victorian times. I note also that the Trussell Trust, the leading food-poverty charity, states on it's website that it is 'based on, shaped, and driven by Christian values".

 

[Wandering Monk]

...or turned into mosques, seeing the drift.

You got a problem with that?

 

[Vee]

An excellent question, to which there is no ready answer. I'd say it's a much harsher place now, than it was 50 years ago when I was a boy. Communities seemed stronger then, and people looked out for each other in ways that seem rarer today. That's anecdotal evidence, of course. Certainly in the last 40 years or so, the gulf between rich and poor has got wider, the social safety net has been eroded, homelessness and extreme poverty is far more visible. Whether this has anything at all to do with the erosion of Christian or other religious values is impossible to say with any certainty.

Correlation is not causation, but it's true that it makes me wonder. People criticize religion a lot - and they are right - but in the end, moving away from religion doesn't seem to be improving society.

 

[Estro Felino]

You got a problem with that?

None whatsoever.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Anyway, it appears the need for spiritual comfort is not on the decline, even if organised traditional religious practice is…

Shamanism, pagans and wiccans: trends from the England and Wales census

 

[Estro Felino]

Muslims increased by app 1.2m, so yes, more mosques needed.
BUT non-believers increased by app 8.1m - therefore more museums, galleries, etc needed

I am a theist who believes in Evolution, and that's why I am a fan of Richard Dawkin's.
He is an atheist, of course, and his view on secularism is pretty interesting.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Correlation is not causation, but it's true that it makes me wonder. People criticize religion a lot - and they are right - but in the end, moving away from religion doesn't seem to be improving society.

And for better or worse, European - and therefore American - values are in large part Christian values. To be English or Welsh, or Italian or French or Greek, is to be born into in a culture shaped by centuries of specifically Christian history.